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Contents
The two Parisian chemists compared milk from women, cows, goats, donkeys, sheep, and mares. In their ranking table, donkey milk ranks first in whey content and second in lactose.
Historical account: The information provided here reflects the state of knowledge at the time. It is not scientifically proven, is not a recommendation, and cannot be applied today. Donkey milk is a food, not a medicine.
The source in brief
- Authors: Antoine-Augustin Parmentier (1737–1813) and Nicolas Deyeux (1745–1837)
- Work: Précis d’expériences et observations sur les différentes espèces de lait
- Location: “Du lait d’ânesse”, p. 260–264; milking practice p. 207–208; ranking table p. 418–419 (Strasbourg/Paris, Year VII)
- Time and place: Year VII (1799) · France (Paris/Strasbourg)
- Type of source: Early milk chemistry
In the original wording
Après le lait de vache c’est le lait d’ânesse dont la médecine tire le meilleur parti; l’usage s’en est conservé depuis les Grecs jusqu’à nous
After cow’s milk, donkey milk is the one from which medicine [of their time] makes the most use; this practice has been preserved since the Greeks.
French, p. 260
Le lait d’ânesse est, parmi les différentes espèces de lait, un de ceux qui contiennent le moins de matière caséeuse.
Donkey milk is one of those among the different types of milk that contains the least amount of curdy substance.
French, p. 263
German translation: own, free translation by the DON DONKEY'S editorial team.
Background
Parmentier, known as a promoter of the potato in France, and the pharmacist Deyeux submitted a prize essay to the Société royale de médecine in 1788. The question was to determine the nature of milk from women, cows, goats, donkeys, sheep, and mares through comparative physical and chemical examination. They expanded the award-winning work into this book.
Chemistry was at its infancy around 1800: Milk was separated into cream, butter, “curd substance,” whey, and “milk salt” (lactose), but proteins could not yet be determined in the modern sense. The authors themselves emphasize that precise quantitative data were not possible due to variations between animals.
What the source reports
In the chapter “Du lait d’ânesse” (pp. 260–264), the authors describe donkey milk as similar to women’s milk in color, taste, and consistency, but chemically distinguishable. The cream was never thick or abundant, and the butter obtained from it was soft and white. Acids and alcohol caused the curd substance to precipitate in very fine particles rather than in a solid mass like cow’s, sheep’s, and goat’s milk.
Regarding lactose, they observed significant differences between the animals: Three equal portions from three donkeys yielded markedly different amounts. The lactose obtained was equal to that of women’s and cow’s milk.
A practical observation (pp. 207–208): When a donkey was led from house to house and milked for several patients in succession, the first received the most watery milk, while the last received the fattiest. The authors therefore suggested milking once and dividing the yield.
Numbers and facts
- 6 – compared types of milk (women, cows, goats, donkeys, sheep, mares)
- 1788 – prize essay for the Société royale de médecine
- 1st – rank of donkey milk in whey content (table p. 418)
- 2nd – rank in lactose, after women’s milk
- 3 – donkeys yielded markedly different amounts of sugar
Critical assessment
- Scientific value: An early systematic comparative study of different types of milk, award-winning and fully digitized. The ranking generally agrees with modern analyses.
- Limitations: There are no percentage values; the authors deliberately refrain from providing them because the samples varied too greatly. The methods of the time are crude by today’s standards.
- Modern assessment: The medical remarks reflect medical practice around 1800 and cannot be applied today. The chemical section, on the other hand, is a valuable piece of the history of science.
Our assessment
For us, an insightful source from this era: Donkey milk is compared chemically with other types of milk early and systematically. That the results varied from animal to animal is also described in modern studies.
Original quotes, all facts, and the complete assessment: Parmentier & Deyeux: Donkey milk chemically (1799). Further sources and studies in the Research Archive.
Proof: Chapter “Du lait d’ânesse”, p. 260 (archive.org); Ranking table of the six types of milk, p. 418 (archive.org) · Summarized by the DON DONKEY'S editorial team, as of November 2026.
End of source summary. The source does not refer to DON DONKEY'S® or our products. Our donkey milk is a food.
